Northington Notes--Money
Jerry W. Northington, DVM
March 30, 2014
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A recent survey of campaign contributions for a Delaware Senator (who shall remain unnamed but whose initials are CC) showed a remarkable amount of money collected. In fact the contributions were well ahead of most other Senators in office today. The single most remarkable facet of the money contributed was the source. The 99% of Americans (individuals) accounted for only 6% of the total. And we wonder day by day why we are so underrepresented in Congress.

Money rules today. We live in a corporotocracy that parades as democracy. The Supreme Court with its ruling in Citizens United allowed corporations to be treated as individuals for the purpose of money in politics. We, the people, were given short shrift as corporations began to pour large amounts of money into the system. Money buys influence as we all have seen for years. The process seems to be never ending as money rules.

Another recent experiment in social justice and politics requested meetings with many of our current US Congressional members. Letters were sent to the members requesting a meeting. Letters purporting to come from potential campaign donors received a positive response in terms of offering a meeting just about double what was offered to letters purporting to come from ordinary constituents.

Some years ago the Democratic Caucus of the House of Representatives held a day-long event for new members in advance of their being sworn in. The subject of the event was reelection and money raising to insure reelection. With people just about to enter the House for the first time the conversation was already about keeping the job and not about doing the job in the first place.

The only avenue for change today appears to be in the political process. Laws need to be changed to restrict corporate influence in politics. But the same people that are required to pass new laws are the ones who benefit from the status quo. That we can expect any change from those folks is a fantasy of epic proportions.

What can we do? We can begin by electing people dedicated to the proposition of real representation and change in the system. That they will perform up to campaign promises remains to be seen at all times, but if elected officials fail they need to be removed and replaced. If we are to see any change then the people running the system must be different from the ones we have today.

 

Peace.

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Quote of the Week:

Isn't it a shame that future generations can't be here to see all the wonderful things we're doing with their money?--Earl Wilson